Black history is an expansive legacy that is so much more than a month. However, February is officially designated for celebrating it, and Studio Potter takes a closer look at the contributions Black ceramists have made, and continue to make, to the richness of American ceramics. Many more articles by Black artists exist in the ninety-plus issues of our print journal, and we are working to bring them out of their print and PDF versions to make online, scrollable, shareable, mobile-friendly versions. If you are a current member (subscriber) of SP, you can login to our site and click on "digital issue" on any issue page to view the PDF version. This collection does not represent our full archive of Black authors and artists, and is an evolving and growing document of our contributors.
Volume 10, Number 2, June 1982 - "Black Crafts"
Although since the mid-fifties, and especially since the sixties, there has been a great upsurge in doing crafts, there still has not been enough of a support from the masses — the people — for the survival of the craftsperson, Black or White. It's a problem the artist has in this society. Then you overlay the whole racial thing, and it becomes even more difficult for Black people.
As a part of his regional interviews series, Gerry Williams visited several artists from Mississippi and published transcriptions or excerpts of those recordings. The section "Black Crafts" is by Dr. Grace Hampton, who began her career as an arts educator, worked at Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, and as the assistant director in the Expansion Arts Program at the National Endowment for the Arts, before moving on to Penn State University. Learn more about Dr. Hampton's life and career in this Penn State interview.
Volume 40, Number 1, Winter/Spring 2012 - "Piecing It Back Together"
[Don] Reitz said that he doesn't make vessels, he makes what he calls "sculptures of pots," a way of paying homage to the history of the vessel. This statement changed my outlook on the process and representation of contemporary crafts.